Guide to 24-hour supervision at school boarding premises

The minimum standards require you to ensure the care, safety and welfare of all boarders.

You must always supervise boarders when they are on the school boarding premises.

You must have evidence of compliance. This may include:

a supervision policy or procedure that includes details of the role and responsibilities of staff when on duty
a staff handbook that outlines expectations and responsibilities of staff
staff rosters that show there is always appropriate and active supervision.

When we review your boarding premises, we will also conduct a site visit. This will give you the opportunity to tell us more about your approach to supervision and how this works. Supervision policies and procedures must consider:

the number of boarders
their ages
the layout of your boarding premises.

Policies and procedures must be up to date and reviewed regularly to ensure they remain fit for purpose.

What is active supervision?

Staff actively supervise students at all times.
Staff are focused and move around the boarding premises regularly.
Staff are always present and available to boarders.
Policies and procedures clearly outline supervision requirements and expectations, including after lights-out.
Staff are familiar with the boarding environment and can identify unusual situations or student behaviour.
Staff members living on-site can distinguish between being on and off duty.
Boarders are never left at the boarding premises without staff on duty.

Common supervision non-compliances include:

Lack of active supervision after lights-out.
Poor recordkeeping and documentation that do not demonstrate the implementation of supervision procedures and provide evidence of appropriate supervision.
Lack of clarity about the role and responsibilities of supervising staff.
Unclear procedures for managing emergencies and incidents (for example, what to do when a student has an injury or breaches the code of conduct).
Poor reporting and communication between boarding staff and school staff (for example, school staff not advising boarding staff of a health or wellbeing issue, and vice versa).

Make sure you remain compliant:

Regularly review your policies and procedures to ensure they remain fit for purpose.
Maintain and keep up-to-date records of staff recruitment, induction and training.
Provide training to staff so they understand their:
- 24-hour duties of care to students
- supervision requirements
- emergency management
- procedures for managing student illness or injury
- child safety obligations.

Examples

These are some questions about student supervision. We have provided examples of evidence you might provide to show how you implement relevant policies.

Issue	Types of evidence you might provide
How do I demonstrate active supervision?	supervision policy and procedure boarding staff rosters boarding staff handbook
How do staff maintain supervision of boarders 24 hours a day?	staff supervision rosters record of student location supervision policy and procedure active supervision after lights-out and at all times students are in the boarding house staff handbook alarmed entry and exit doors CCTV in common areas
What supervision occurs after lights-out? How often? What does a boarder do if they need to talk to a staff member after lights-out?	staff handbook supervision policies and procedures that clearly detail procedure and responsibilities of staff on duty after lights-out information for boarders: induction, so boarders know how to contact staff at any time if there is an emergency, or they are unwell posters around the boarding premises email reminders
How do you monitor boarders' concerns? How do you stay aware of issues?	processes for raising complaints or concerns are easily accessible to boarders child safety risk register that identifies health, safety and wellbeing risks and implementation of controls and treatments boarder surveys staff are familiar with the boarders they are responsible for. For example, staff on duty know which boarders have medical or mental health conditions or wellbeing concerns and have received training to recognise issues and signs of harm. ensuring effective communication with school staff demonstrated by a documented procedure (this could be in the staff handbook or supervision procedure, or recording notes in the student management system) documented procedure for handover when staff changeover (for example, between staff rostered on during the day and night)
What does your boarding premises consider to be the right minimum staff-to-boarder ratio? What determined this ratio? How often is it reviewed?	child safety risk register that identifies any boarder vulnerabilities, controls and treatments staff rosters staff handbook or supervision procedure provides details of why, for example, staff ratios are higher where there are younger boarders, or because of the layout of particular areas in the boarding premises.
Do you deliver different training to boarding staff who are not registered teachers? How does their training differ?	boarding staff handbook samples of training delivered showing its content staff training attendance register with dates ensuring current Working with Children clearances and that recruitment complies with clause 10 of Ministerial Order 1359, including thorough reference checks
If your school boarding premises uses CCTV, how does this support your supervision of students?	enrolment agreements boarding staff handbook supervision policies and procedures
How are serious incidents that occur after hours reported to the principal? How are they reported to the board?	reporting policies and procedures (for example, reporting procedures relating to child safety) incident and accident register board minutes reporting requirements and procedure detailed in the staff handbook
What are the timeframes for reporting incidents that occur on the boarding premises to the principal and the board?	child safety policies and procedures complaints policy and procedure reports to board board meeting minutes evidence of staff training
Are issues about the boarding premises a standing item on the board’s agenda?	board and subcommittee minutes and agendas reports to the board about boarding, not just school
What type of relationship does the board chairperson have with the head of boarding (or equivalent)?	organisation chart delegations schedule board and subcommittee minutes

Case studies

Victoria Boarding House

Victoria Boarding House is an all-girls boarding house for students in Years 7–12. The boarding house accommodates up to 30 students. The boarding house employs 4 overnight supervisors. The boarding house’s policy does not allow an overnight supervisor to work 2 consecutive nights. Each supervisor works 1 to 2 nights a week.

Tutors leave the premises around 9:00 pm each night, students prepare for bed shortly afterwards. Lights-out is at 10:30 pm. The boarding house has 2 levels. One overnight supervisor sleeps on the ground floor every night.

Alarms monitor external doors in the evenings. Students are only allowed to access common areas of the boarding house in exceptional circumstances under staff supervision. The boarding house informs parents and boarders of these arrangements before enrolment.

The overnight supervisor takes the student register between 10:00 and 10:30 pm every night. They record student presence in Victoria Boarding House’s online student management system and any notes relating to behaviour, health or wellbeing.

Later in the evening, the supervisor walks around the boarding house to ensure that all the boarders are in bed and asleep.

A student feels ill during the night and knocks on the overnight supervisor’s door. The supervisor leaves their room to tend to the student in the common area. The supervisor moves the student to a bedroom on the ground floor closer to the overnight supervisor.

The overnight supervisor updates the student’s records about her overnight illness and concludes their shift at approximately 7:30 am the following morning. The overnight supervisor and the day staff member, who arrives on-site in the morning, conduct a handover. The day staff member also communicates with school staff.

The supervision arrangements at Victoria Boarding House ensure that active and appropriate 24-hour supervision is in place as:

students can contact the overnight supervisor at any time throughout the night
alternative sleeping arrangements are available to any student who may need increased overnight supervision
the supervisor records student presence before lights-out every night
the supervisor ensures students are in bed and asleep
the overnight supervisor records incidents that occur overnight in the boarding house’s student management system.

Green Boarding

Green Boarding is an all-boys school boarding premises. Students in Years 7 to 9 are in one boarding house and older students are in another. The 2 boarding houses accommodate up to 30 students. Green Boarding employs overnight supervisors as well as day staff. There are always 2 staff on duty throughout the day and night in each boarding house.

Overnight supervisors have a room in each boarding house. After lights-out, a boarder alerts the overnight supervisor that another boarder is unwell and is having trouble breathing. Consistent with the staff handbook which requires that there are 2 staff who enter boarders’ bedrooms, the 2 overnight supervisors go to see the unwell boarder. They follow the procedure for unwell students and contact the school nurse who comes to assess the student.^1. The school nurse moves the student to the sick bay and monitors the student for the remainder of the night.

One supervisor records the incident in the student management system and updates the student location register. They also let the boarding house master know. The other supervisor checks in with the boarder who alerted them to ensure they are okay. In the morning, the supervisors provide a handover to day staff. School staff are also made aware that the student is in the sick bay.

The supervision arrangements at Green Boarding ensure that active and appropriate 24-hour supervision is in place as:

students can contact the overnight supervisor at any time throughout the night
there is a clear procedure for when students are unwell and staff are familiar with the procedure
staff seek immediate medical assistance
the procedure requires staff to alert the boarding house master, school and day duty staff
consistent with their child safety obligations, the boarding premises’ procedure requires that 2 staff members are always present when entering a boarder’s bedroom.^2.

Notes:

Not all schools have a nurse or matron on duty. Some schools may have a GP on call or contact Nurse-on-Call for a medical assessment. In the event of an emergency, supervisors should always contact 000.
In an emergency situation, it may be necessary for staff to enter a boarder’s bedroom alone. However, there should still be very clear procedures and training about staff conduct and boundaries, including being alone with students in their bedrooms.

Education & training

Updated 20 July 2026